Payment is NOT Enough

The salary I get by the end of the month is finely calculated and then finely split—like a poor man's magic trick. There are times when my meager salary cannot make a single day stay in the account. It's good, I suppose, that it doesn't occupy much space in the bank. By the end of the month, the credit would amount to Nu. 10,000 or more, leaving me still in debt. I hardly get Nu. 13,000. Let me show you where it all disappears.

How My Money Splits in a Month:

1. House rent: Nu. 2,500

2. TV bill: Nu. 300 (for the privilege of watching ads and old movies)

3. Electric bill: Nu. 100+ (depending on how many lights I forget to switch off)

4. Car petrol: Nu. 1,500 or more, depending on "emergency" (translation: visiting family)

5. School collection: Nu. 500, sometimes more than 1,000 (the mystery fund)

6. Miscellaneous donations (religious purposes): Nu. 300 (for the soul)

7. Visiting sick people: Nu. 300 or more (for the conscience)

8. Visiting relatives: Nu. 300 or more (for the guilt)

9. Veggies, rice, and general fooding: Nu. 3,000 (for staying alive, annoyingly necessary)

10. For a child: Nu. 200 (the cheapest part of this list, thankfully)

Total: Nu. 10,000

The salary I actually get now is Nu. 13,314—after a heavy loan deduction. The meager amount is not really enough. Expenditure escalates beyond what I receive sometimes. We don't have any money left for holidaying or family trips. A vacation, in this economy, is a dream that requires its own fundraiser.

This is a little bill of a rough calculation incurred in this month and is prepared by my wife.

And this donation comes frequently.

I really feel that teachers and doctors and hospital staff must be paid handsomely. Because services like teaching are, as someone wisely put it, "sitting penniless on a beach job"—except there is no beach, no sun, and definitely no umbrella drink. No TA/DA, no training, no outside tour, no nothing. Only a dry and meager monthly salary that evaporates before the month does.

I hardly know how to fill out a TA/DA form. Sometimes I fail to even say what TA/DA stands for. (Travel Allowance / Dearness Allowance, apparently. I had to look it up. Twice.)

So here's to another month of calculated suffering and a bank account that echoes.